District News Roundup

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River, Mass., has reached an
out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit involving 68 men and women who say
they were molested as children by a priest who worked there.

The financial terms of the settlement, announced Dec. 3, were not
revealed, but they are believed to exceed $20,000 per person. Published
reports put the individual payments at $50,000 to $80,000, for a total
settlement of between $3.4 million and $5.4 million.

The abuse allegedly occurred between 1956 and 1967 when the
individuals were ages 8 to 13 and James Porter was a seminarian and
priest in Fall River, said Matthew McNamara, a lawyer for the
plaintiffs.

Mr. Porter, who left the priesthood, is now married and lives in
Minnesota, where he is facing more recent criminal charges of sexual
misconduct.

Mr. Porter has also been charged in a 46-count criminal indictment
in Bristol County, Mass., involving alleged child abuse of 32
individuals, many of whom are included in the group of 68, Mr. McNamara
said.

The agreement with the diocese "would not have occurred had there
not been major progress made'' in persuading it to institute a policy
on handling allegations of sexual abuse by clergy or diocesan
employees, Mr. McNamara said.

In a statement, Bishop Sean O'Malley said that "the diocese has
committed itself to an open and fair policy in cases of reported sexual
abuse and is establishing a written policy in these matters.''

He said he hoped "that this agreement brings comfort and healing''
to the victims.

Prosecutors in a Maryland county have decided not to indict an
elementary school principal on charges of being a drug "kingpin.''

Patricia Ann Emory, the principal of Severna Park Elementary School
in Anne Arundel County, had been arrested last month along with her
husband and eight others after police reported seizing nearly 500
pounds of marijuana and $10,000 in cash from the Emory home and other
residences. The Emorys were charged under the county's drug-kingpin
statute.

A grand jury last week indicted Mr. Emory and five of the eight
others, but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to indict
Ms. Emory.

Last week, Mr. Emory was being held without bail in Anne Arundel
County jail.

The principal, who has been on administrative leave without pay, is
seeking to return to her job.

Prosecutors said the investigation of the alleged drug ring would
continue.

The Amherst-Pelham (Mass.) Regional School District was accused in a
suit filed last week of violating its students' civil rights by
grouping them by ability.

The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People filed the suit in U.S. District Court with the help of
its national headquarters.

The suit charges that the ability-grouping system used by the
district's junior and senior high schools places disproportionate
numbers of minority students in classes for the least talented.

As a result, the suit claims, the minority students are deprived of
access to about half of the district's course offerings, in violation
of their rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and
various federal civil-rights laws.

District officials assert, however, that ability grouping is
necessary in the district, which enrolls large numbers of
language-minority students with special needs.

Moreover, they say, parents have the ultimate authority over where
their children are placed and can override the recommendations of
teachers.

The Western Massachusetts Regional Education Center concluded in a
1991 report examining the district that students of color are almost
twice as likely as white students to be found in basic and ungrouped
courses. White students, on the other hand, are almost twice as likely
to be enrolled in advanced courses, the report said.

At the request of principals from some of its most competitive high
schools, the Fairfax County, Va., school board has voted to allow some
schools to stop ranking students according to their grade-point
averages.

The principals argued that, in schools where a majority of students
have grade-point averages of 3.0 or better, class rank becomes an
unfair gauge of students' academic abilities.

The principal of one such school, Langley High School, told the
board that 27 of his students had grade-point averages of 3.1. When the
averages were carried out to the thousandth decimal place, some fell in
the top half of the class and some in the bottom half. Class rank is
one measure that college admissions officers consider in reviewing
students' applications.

Principals, parents, and students also told the board that
competition for high grade-point averages has become so fierce that
some students cheat, while others load up on Advanced Placement courses
for which they get a slightly higher credit for their grades.

The board's action permits three high schools to end class ranking
immediately and allows others to do the same, with board
approval.

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